2018 Outback Bowl
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| 2018 Outback Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 32nd Outback Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Raymond James Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tampa, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jake Bentley (QB, South Carolina)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Michigan by 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Stuart Mullins (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 45,687[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$$6,308,560[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Adam Amin, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2018 Outback Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1, 2018, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 32nd annual Outback Bowl was one of the 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games concluding the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was nationally televised on ESPN2, and its title sponsor is the Outback Steakhouse restaurant franchise.
Michigan
The game featured the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference, and the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference in their fourth meeting against each other, and second meeting in the Outback Bowl.[4]
After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Wolverines were selected to their sixth Outback Bowl appearance, the most Outback Bowl appearances by any team.[5] This was their 46th bowl game appearance, the 11th-highest total all-time among FBS schools.[6]
South Carolina
After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Gamecocks were selected to their fifth Outback Bowl appearance, tying them with four other teams for the second-most Outback Bowl appearances. This was their 22nd bowl game appearance. South Carolina won the previous meeting against the Michigan Wolverines in the 2013 Outback Bowl, by a score of 33–28.[7]